Global Observations and European emissions of the halogenated olefins HFO-1234yf, HFO-1234ze(E), and HCFO-1233zd(E) from the AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment) network
19 affiliations
- 1Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Dübendorf, Switzerland)
- 2Atmospheric Chemistry Research Group, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- 3Laboratory for Air Pollution/Environmental Technology, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland
- 4CSIRO Environment, Aspendale, Victoria, Australia
- 5Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- 6School of Geographical Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- 7Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Urbino, Urbino, Italy
- 8Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Italian National Research Council, Bologna, Italy
- 9Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, UK
- 10Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- 11Gluckman Consulting, Cobham, Surrey, UK
- 12NILU, Kjeller, Norway
- 13School of Earth System Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea
- 14Federal Office for the Environment FOEN, Bern, Switzerland
- 15School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- 16Korea Polar Research Institute, KIOST, Incheon, South Korea
- 17Department of Environmental Modelling, Sensing and Analysis, TNO, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, Petten, the Netherlands
- 18GC Soft Inc., Carlsbad, CA, USA
- 19Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Abstract
Atmospheric observations of the widely used hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) HFO-1234yf (2,3,3,3-tetrafluoroprop-1-ene), and HFO-1234ze(E) (E-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoroprop-1-ene), and the hydrochlorofluoroolefin (HCFO) HCFO-1233zd(E) (E-1-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-ene) are reported from the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) network. Since 2011, pollution events have grown in magnitude and frequency at sites which are influenced by regional emissions, while remote stations show first appearances of these substances. For HFO-1234yf and HFO-1234ze(E) winter peak mole fractions in background northern hemisphere air have grown from 0.03 ppt (picomol mol-1, parts-per-trillion in dry air) in the mid-2010s to 0.25 ppt in 2024, while the atmospherically more stable HCFO-1233zd(E) showed an increase from 0.06 ppt to 0.45 ppt. This suggests increasing usage of these haloolefins to replace hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are regulated for phase-down over the next decades. Using European observations and the inverse modeling frameworks InTEM, ELRIS, and RHIME we determine emission trends and regional distribution. For Northwest Europe, emissions of HFO-1234yf increased steadily and rapidly from <0.1 Gg yr-1 in 2014 to 1.50 Gg yr-1 by 2023, presumably due to its introduction in the mobile air conditioning and refrigeration sectors. HFO-1234ze(E) emissions were low during 2014–2017, followed by a rapid increase in 2018/2019, potentially due its introduction as aerosol propellant, after which they increased more slowly to 0.96 Gg yr-1 by 2023. HCFO-1233zd(E) emissions are derived from 2017 onwards, showing a steady increase from 0.2 Gg yr-1 to 1.0 Gg yr-1 in 2023.
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BibTeX
@article{vollmer2026global,
title = {{Global Observations and European emissions of the halogenated olefins HFO-1234yf, HFO-1234ze(E), and HCFO-1233zd(E) from the AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment) network}},
author = {Martin K. Vollmer and Joseph Pitt and Dickon Young and Stephan Henne and Blagoj S. Mitrevski and Jens Mühle and Anita L. Ganesan and Jgor Arduini and Alistair J. Manning and Thomas Wagenhäuser and Alison L. Redington and Daniela B. Melo and Brendan J. Murphy and Ray Gluckman and Kieran M. Stanley and Paul B. Krummel and Chris R. Lunder and Jaegeun Yun and Dominique Rust and Angelina Wenger and Myriam Guillevic and Jooil Kim and Ray H. J. Wang and Tae Siek Rhee and Lionel Constantin and Arnoud K. F. Frumau and Christina M. Harth and Peter K. Salameh and Ove Hermansen and Matthew Rigby and Luke M. Western and Andreas Engel and Simon O’Doherty and Sunyoung Park and Michela Maione and Paul J. Fraser and Ronald G. Prinn and Ray F. Weiss and Stefan Reimann},
journal = {Atmospheric chemistry and physics},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.5194/acp-26-6993-2026},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-6993-2026},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Global Observations and European emissions of the halogenated olefins HFO-1234yf, HFO-1234ze(E), and HCFO-1233zd(E) from the AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment) network
AU - Martin K. Vollmer
AU - Joseph Pitt
AU - Dickon Young
AU - Stephan Henne
AU - Blagoj S. Mitrevski
AU - Jens Mühle
AU - Anita L. Ganesan
AU - Jgor Arduini
AU - Alistair J. Manning
AU - Thomas Wagenhäuser
AU - Alison L. Redington
AU - Daniela B. Melo
AU - Brendan J. Murphy
AU - Ray Gluckman
AU - Kieran M. Stanley
AU - Paul B. Krummel
AU - Chris R. Lunder
AU - Jaegeun Yun
AU - Dominique Rust
AU - Angelina Wenger
AU - Myriam Guillevic
AU - Jooil Kim
AU - Ray H. J. Wang
AU - Tae Siek Rhee
AU - Lionel Constantin
AU - Arnoud K. F. Frumau
AU - Christina M. Harth
AU - Peter K. Salameh
AU - Ove Hermansen
AU - Matthew Rigby
AU - Luke M. Western
AU - Andreas Engel
AU - Simon O’Doherty
AU - Sunyoung Park
AU - Michela Maione
AU - Paul J. Fraser
AU - Ronald G. Prinn
AU - Ray F. Weiss
AU - Stefan Reimann
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/22
JO - Atmospheric chemistry and physics
DO - 10.5194/acp-26-6993-2026
UR - https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-6993-2026
AB - Atmospheric observations of the widely used hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) HFO-1234yf (2,3,3,3-tetrafluoroprop-1-ene), and HFO-1234ze(E) (E-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoroprop-1-ene), and the hydrochlorofluoroolefin (HCFO) HCFO-1233zd(E) (E-1-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-ene) are reported from the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) network. Since 2011, pollution events have grown in magnitude and frequency at sites which are influenced by regional emissions, while remote stations show first appearances of these substances. For HFO-1234yf and HFO-1234ze(E) winter peak mole fractions in background northern hemisphere air have grown from 0.03 ppt (picomol mol-1, parts-per-trillion in dry air) in the mid-2010s to 0.25 ppt in 2024, while the atmospherically more stable HCFO-1233zd(E) showed an increase from 0.06 ppt to 0.45 ppt. This suggests increasing usage of these haloolefins to replace hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are regulated for phase-down over the next decades. Using European observations and the inverse modeling frameworks InTEM, ELRIS, and RHIME we determine emission trends and regional distribution. For Northwest Europe, emissions of HFO-1234yf increased steadily and rapidly from <0.1 Gg yr-1 in 2014 to 1.50 Gg yr-1 by 2023, presumably due to its introduction in the mobile air conditioning and refrigeration sectors. HFO-1234ze(E) emissions were low during 2014–2017, followed by a rapid increase in 2018/2019, potentially due its introduction as aerosol propellant, after which they increased more slowly to 0.96 Gg yr-1 by 2023. HCFO-1233zd(E) emissions are derived from 2017 onwards, showing a steady increase from 0.2 Gg yr-1 to 1.0 Gg yr-1 in 2023.
SN - 1680-7316
SN - 1680-7324
ER -